Aluminum cans are commonly used as containers for a wide variety of products. After their manufacture, the aluminum cans are typically washed with cleaners to remove aluminum fines and other contaminants therefrom. Conventional washes frequently result in a surface finish on the outside of the can which has a deleterious effect on the efficient movement of the cans through the conveyor systems and onto or off the printer mandrels.
A need exists in the aluminum can processing industry to modify the coefficient of friction on the outside surface of the cans in order to improve their mobility without adversely affecting the adhesion of printing, paints or lacquers applied thereto. Cans characterized as having poor mobility have high coefficients of static and kinetic friction. Those practiced in the art know that the coefficient of static friction between two surfaces is almost always larger than the coefficient of kinetic friction. In a commercial can processing operation, there are numerous locations where the cans stop moving momentarily and must start again from rest. Hence the coefficient of static friction becomes limiting. The problem is particularly important when the cans are loaded on, and ejected from the mandrels of high-speed printers. Other locations where the problem is evident is where cans flow through the single file conveyors called "single filers". A high coefficient of static friction generally prohibits an increase in line speed and production speed and production output, causes frequent jammings, printer misfeed problems and loss of production due to increased rates of damage to the cans.
A reduction in the coefficient of static friction will improve can mobility through the conveyor system, especially the single filers and reduce printer rejects. This will allow for an increase in production without additional capital investment in advanced processing equipment which may be of limited benefit in any case.
It is therefore desirable to improve the mobility of aluminum cans through the conveyor filers and printers to increase production output, reduce line jammings, minimize down time and reduce can damage. It is an object of the invention to improve the mobility of aluminum through can processing equipment for the purpose of overcoming the aforementioned problems.